50 Things you can Compost in a Cold Composting System
For those of us who want to do as little work as possible, then composting in a cold system is about as easy as it gets. It's all about knowing the right things to put in..

What is a cold composting system?

A cold composting system is what most of us have. You might have a purpose-made compost bin or a pile at the bottom of the garden but if you have a compost bin that is less than one metre cubed in size, if you add items a little at a time and if you rarely turn your compost, then you have a cold system.

Cold composting systems never reach the high temperatures required to kill off pathogens and weed seeds so there are a number of things you should keep out of your bin. As a general rule, you shouldn't put in diseased plants, cooked food, meat, fish or dairy nor perennial weed roots or weeds with seeds.

What's all this about greens and browns?

If you're new to composting, you may have been told you need a fifty-fifty mix of greens to browns. (Greens are nitrogen-rich and tend to be wetter, browns are carbon-rich and tend to be drier). This is true but all this talk of greens and browns is complicating the issue. All you really need to know is that you should have a good mix of materials in your compost bin. Put allowable wet and dry household and garden waste into your bin as and when they become available and you'll find you get pretty close to the fifty-fifty ratio without even having to try.

Here's a list of things you can put in your compost bin and for those of you who really need to know, we've colour-coded them according to whether they are predominantly green or brown or even both - green and brown.

1. Grass clippings

Good source of nitrogen, don't use straight after applying lawn treatments.

2. Shredded paper

Good to mix with grass clippings if you can be bothered. If not, just add when available.

3. Vacuum cleaner contents

4. Annual weeds without seeds

5. Pet and human hair

In moderation when cleaning your brushes.

6. Tea bags and tea leaves

7. Vegetable peelings

8. Junk mail

Scrunch it up loosely to trap air.

9. Cooked sweetcorn cobs

Although cooked, these are okay - very slow to rot down.

10. Pond debris

11. Floor sweepings

12. Cereal packets

Leave these whole, there's air inside and compost bins love air!

13. Fruit peelings

14. Wooden barbeque skewers

15. Houseplants with pottingcompost

16. Egg boxes

Leave these whole, there's air inside.

17. Poisonous plants

Things like potato haulms and rhubarb leaves are fine.

18. Feathers

19. Used kitchen roll

As long as you haven't been using anti-bacterial spray. Compost needs bacteria!